Pope Francis I funeral: Vatican announces date to lay Pope to rest as public invited to pay respects

Vatican officials have officially set a date for the funeral of Pope Francis I following a key meeting less than 24 hours after his death was announced.

The first congregation of the Cardinals met in the Synod Hall this morning to discuss when to hold the service for the Pope, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, . The congregation, summoned by Deacon of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Batista Re, was due to set a funeral date between Friday and Sunday this week allowing people around the to say goodbye to the . They met at 9am local time (8am BST) before announcing the funeral date as this Saturday, April 26, in the first of a series of "general congregations".

READ MORE:

Before the funeral takes place at 10am local time (9am BST), the late Pope's body will be moved from the Chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican gatehouse where it has been resting since his death was confirmed, to St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday.

Once it is moved into the basilica, it will remain there for three days for to the late Catholic Church leader. The Vatican confirmed on Tuesday that the Holy Father’s coffin will tomorrow be taken to St Peter’s Basilica at 9am, where it will remain in state for three days and will then be buried at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore - Saint Mary Major - in central Rome.

When the funeral is held, members of the public will be followed by hundreds of dignitaries set descend on Vatican City, with kings - including III - set to watch the coffin being carried through the "door of death" before it is placed on St Mary Major's main altar.

The event will run in three stages - the preparation of the body, public viewing and burial.

During the burial Pope Francis' simple wooden coffin will be lowered into a marble sarcophagus in the Basilica, rather the the traditional grottoes underneath St Peter's Basilica - which holds the bodies of 91 past Popes - and covered by a stone slab. A nine-day mourning period will follow in which papal candidates settle into a Conclave and set out their visions of the church.

Once they have made their cases during the several days' long process - expected to fall between May 5 and 10 - 52 individuals, 136 of whom who can vote in a conclave, will decide who succeeds Pope Francis.

Electors must take an oath of secrecy inside the Sistine Chapel and seal the church doors before voting by secret ballot.

Paper ballots cast by the electors are burned following each round of voting, with the smoke they create indicating whether a verdict has been reached. Black smoke indicates they have been unable to decide on a Papal successor, while white smoke reveals a choice has been made.